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Most sophisticated ancient language.

  Tags: Dead Languages
 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room Post Reply
15 messages over 2 pages: 1
JS-1
Diglot
Senior Member
Ireland
Joined 5983 days ago

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Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), German, Japanese, Ancient Egyptian, Arabic (Written)

 
 Message 9 of 15
20 October 2009 at 6:59am | IP Logged 
No language is more advanced or sophisticated than any other.

If you are referring to the complexity of the grammar from the perspective of a modern
speaker, Sumerian has to be a contender as it has many difficult concepts that are not
shared by any known language. It was also the language spoken by the civilisation
that invented writing -thousands of years before Latin, Greek or Sanskrit were recorded.



Edited by JS-1 on 20 October 2009 at 7:03am

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Gusutafu
Senior Member
Sweden
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 Message 10 of 15
20 October 2009 at 11:24am | IP Logged 
JS-1 wrote:
No language is more advanced or sophisticated than any other.


That is of course not true. The PC thing to say is that all languages are equally good at expressing the needs of the society where they are used. Even granting this absurdity, some societies are simpler than others.

JS-1 wrote:
If you are referring to the complexity of the grammar from the perspective of a modern
speaker, Sumerian has to be a contender as it has many difficult concepts that are not
shared by any known language. It was also the language spoken by the civilisation
that invented writing -thousands of years before Latin, Greek or Sanskrit were recorded.


Why is it relevant that it was written down earlier?

In what sense is, say, Creole equally advanced as Sanskrit?
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Raчraч Ŋuɲa
Triglot
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New Zealand
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Speaks: Bikol languages*, Tagalog, EnglishC1
Studies: Spanish, Russian, Japanese

 
 Message 12 of 15
20 October 2009 at 12:16pm | IP Logged 
Gusutafu wrote:


JS-1 wrote:
If you are referring to the complexity of the grammar from the perspective
of a modern speaker, Sumerian has to be a contender as it has many difficult concepts
that are not shared by any known language. It was also the language spoken by the
civilisation that invented writing -thousands of years before Latin, Greek or Sanskrit
were recorded.


Why is it relevant that it was written down earlier?


Well, judge the sophistication of a society based on how novel and radical their
invention is compared with their contemporaries and those earlier. Written Sumerian is
the most complex form of writing, as it is a combination of logographic, consonantal
alphabetic and syllabic signs. Although it has some 1,500 signs, many are polyvalent,
with both syllabic and logographic pronunciations depending on context. In other words,
more complex than Japanese and as complex as Mayan. Cuneiform writing was in use for
more than
34 centuries.

Gusutafu wrote:
In what sense is, say, Creole equally advanced as Sanskrit?


Creole? No such language. I think that is a kind of language by origin. Haitian Creole?
yes, there is such a language. Anyway, if that is a rhetorical question, the
implication is not obvious to me.

Edited by Raчraч Ŋuɲa on 20 October 2009 at 12:38pm

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JW
Hexaglot
Senior Member
United States
youtube.com/user/egw
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Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Biblical Hebrew
Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch, Greek, Italian

 
 Message 13 of 15
20 October 2009 at 7:36pm | IP Logged 
Hubei_China wrote:
Latin (classical or vulgar) -- This is the language that powered the Roman Empire..

I think you've got your history wrong. Koine Greek is the language that "powered" the Roman Empire. It was not only the language of the Eastern Roman Empire, but also the lingua franca of the entire empire, and the language of learning and culture. Latin was the language of the Western Roman Empire.

Hubei_China wrote:
I'm fascinated with advanced ancient languages. What in your opinion is the most advanced and sophisticated ancient language?

Of course this is a highly subjective question and really can only be answered by someone who speaks many ancient languages. However, in my opinion (moderators please remain calm--religious content follows) it is Ancient Greek and specifically Koine Greek. From the standpoint of a Christian (note the disclaimer) God arranged that the New Testament, his message of good news to the inhabited world, would be written in Koine Greek because of the power, sophistication, and accuracy of that language. Thus, as a Christian, to me it is the most advanced and sophisticated ancient language.

Of course, I am also partial to Hebrew and Latin and plan to study them in earnest in the near future (I currently have a basic working knowledge of them).

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Captain Haddock
Diglot
Senior Member
Japan
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Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek

 
 Message 14 of 15
21 October 2009 at 7:20am | IP Logged 
Quote:
I think you've got your history wrong. Koine Greek is the language that "powered" the Roman Empire. It was
not only the language of the Eastern Roman Empire, but also the lingua franca of the entire empire, and the
language of learning and culture. Latin was the language of the Western Roman Empire.


Indeed, people often don't realize that in spite of the far reach of Latin due to its use by Romans and, particularly,
the Roman army, the Roman nobility and leadership all spoke Greek. So did the Egyptian nobility (including
Cleopatra). It's quite amazing, given how complicated Greek is and the lack of accessible learning materials in that
era.

Later scribes in Western Europe, educated by the Roman church and being literate in only Latin (generally
speaking), were frequently confounded by the copious use of Greek in Latin manuscripts, which they could not
understand or translate, hence the expression "it's all Greek to me".
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